Explaining Explanation

From antiquity to the end of the twentieth century, philosophical discussions of understanding remained undeveloped, guided by a 'received view' that takes understanding to be nothing more than knowledge of an explanation. More recently, however, this received view has been criticized, and bold new philosophical proposals about understanding have emerged in its place. In this book, Kareem Khalifa argues that the received view should be revised but not abandoned. In doing so, he clarifies and answers the most central questions in this burgeoning field of philosophical research: what kinds of cognitive abilities are involved in understanding? What is the relationship between the understanding that explanations provide and the understanding that experts have of broader subject matters? Can there be understanding without explanation? How can one understand something on the basis of falsehoods? Is understanding a species of knowledge? What is the value of understanding?

Mass Communication Theories: Explaining Origins, Processes, and Effects explores mass communication theories within the social and cultural context that influenced their origins. An intimate examinati

The fascinating and controversial (but also personal) story of a 6-year research program based at Uppsala University that, instead of explaining conflict, has sought to explain peace, and to gauge its

The fascinating and controversial (but also personal) story of a 6-year research program based at Uppsala University that, instead of explaining conflict, has sought to explain peace, and to gauge its

This book provides a comprehensive account of national parliaments' adaptation to European integration. Advancing an explanation based on political parties' constitutional preferences, the volume inve

The central concern of this book is the explanation of linguistic form. It examines in detail certain cross-linguistic patterns in morphological systems, providing unified explanations of the observat

This multidisciplinary collection explores three key concepts underpinning psychiatry—explanation, phenomenology, and nosology—and their continuing relevance in an age of neuroimaging and genetic anal

Patterns of explanation in biology have long been recognized as different from those deployed in other scientific disciplines, especially that of physics. Celebrating the diversity of interpretative m

Since 1992, Tim Shortridge has been teaching accounting to non-accountants. Over years of trial and error, he developed this simple explanation of the basics that has proven to be easy to understand a

Explaining Law builds on and adds to quantitative social science evidence that concepts and doctrines of law on society-significant activities in a modern nation are a product, not a determinant, of t

Explanation is the name for both the process we use to answer questions raised by observed ambiguities and for the conclusion we offer others. This divergence hints at the many conflicting approaches

"Explaining Islamist Insurgencies explains how and why the process of Islamist radicalisation is an important step towards acts of terrorism and in the formation of terrorist organisations by focusing

Explanation and Progress in Security Studies asks why Security Studies, as a central area of International Relations, has not experienced scientific progress in the way natural sciences have?and answe

Explanation and Progress in Security Studies asks why Security Studies, as a central area of International Relations, has not experienced scientific progress in the way natural sciences have?and answe

Time asymmetric phenomena are successfully predicted by statistical mechanics. Yet the foundations of this theory are surprisingly shaky. Its explanation for the ease of mixing milk with coffee is incomplete, and even implies that un-mixing them should be just as easy. In this book the authors develop a new conceptual foundation for statistical mechanics that addresses this difficulty. Explaining the notions of macrostates, probability, measurement, memory, and the arrow of time in statistical mechanics, they reach the startling conclusion that Maxwell's Demon, the famous perpetuum mobile, is consistent with the fundamental physical laws. Mathematical treatments are avoided where possible, and instead the authors use novel diagrams to illustrate the text. This is a fascinating book for graduate students and researchers interested in the foundations and philosophy of physics.

Law, Explanation and Analysis of the Affordable Care Act answers questions on every provision of the Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping law passed by Congress in the past 50 years.

In Explaining Hitler, Ron Rosenbaum investigates the meanings and motivations people have attached to Hitler and his crimes against humanity. What does Hitler tell us about the nature of evil? In ofte

For a long time philosophers and scientists have wrestled with explanatory and representational questions such as what can be considered the right form of explanation, what makes something explanatory

Explaining the Cosmos analyzes the writings of three thinkers associated with Gaza: Aeneas, Zacharias and Procopius. Together, they offer a case study for the appropriation, adaptation, and transforma

Explaining Local Government, available at last in paperback, uniquely presents a history of local government in Britain from 1800 until the present day. The study explains how the institution evolved

Fear, anger, and negativity are states that each of us have to contend with. Machik's Complete Explanation, the most famous book of the teachings of Machik Lapdron, the great female saint and yogini o

This innovative new text provides a state-of-the-art introduction to the study of European integration, focusing centrally on explaining the differentiated character of the European Union in terms of

This innovative new text provides a state-of-the-art introduction to the study of European integration, focusing centrally on explaining the differentiated character of the European Union in terms of

Time asymmetric phenomena are successfully predicted by statistical mechanics. Yet the foundations of this theory are surprisingly shaky. Its explanation for the ease of mixing milk with coffee is incomplete, and even implies that un-mixing them should be just as easy. In this book the authors develop a new conceptual foundation for statistical mechanics that addresses this difficulty. Explaining the notions of macrostates, probability, measurement, memory, and the arrow of time in statistical mechanics, they reach the startling conclusion that Maxwell's Demon, the famous perpetuum mobile, is consistent with the fundamental physical laws. Mathematical treatments are avoided where possible, and instead the authors use novel diagrams to illustrate the text. This is a fascinating book for graduate students and researchers interested in the foundations and philosophy of physics.

Explaining Criminal Careers presents a simple but influential theory of crime, conviction and reconviction. The assumptions of the theory are derived directly from a detailed analysis of cohort sample

The book surveys the major forms of inquiry in the social sciences, including hermeneutic understanding, narrative, reason-action, and causal explanation, to examine how each method changes our percep

Explaining Creativity is an accessible introduction to the latest scientific research on creativity. The book summarizes and integrates a broad range of research in psychology and related scientific f

Explaining Conversations offers a different way of interpreting people’s social exchanges than has been available in the past. The book is replete with examples of people’s verbal interactions in the

The almost universally accepted explanation for the Iraq War is very clear and consistent - the US decision to attack Saddam Hussein's regime on March 19, 2003 was a product of the ideological agenda, misguided priorities, intentional deceptions and grand strategies of President George W. Bush and prominent 'neoconservatives' and 'unilateralists' on his national security team. Despite the widespread appeal of this version of history, Frank P. Harvey argues that it remains an unsubstantiated assertion and an underdeveloped argument without a logical foundation. His book aims to provide a historically grounded account of the events and strategies which pushed the US-UK coalition towards war. The analysis is based on both factual and counterfactual evidence, combines causal mechanisms derived from multiple levels of analysis and ultimately confirms the role of path dependence and momentum as a much stronger explanation for the sequence of decisions that led to war.

The almost universally accepted explanation for the Iraq War is very clear and consistent - the US decision to attack Saddam Hussein's regime on March 19, 2003 was a product of the ideological agenda, misguided priorities, intentional deceptions and grand strategies of President George W. Bush and prominent 'neoconservatives' and 'unilateralists' on his national security team. Despite the widespread appeal of this version of history, Frank P. Harvey argues that it remains an unsubstantiated assertion and an underdeveloped argument without a logical foundation. His book aims to provide a historically grounded account of the events and strategies which pushed the US-UK coalition towards war. The analysis is based on both factual and counterfactual evidence, combines causal mechanisms derived from multiple levels of analysis and ultimately confirms the role of path dependence and momentum as a much stronger explanation for the sequence of decisions that led to war.

Fresh research, advancing further the work of numerous scholars over a great many decades, points convincingly to a new basis for explaining the Synoptic Problem: the Gospel of Matthew was published i

God: Why This Evil? examines the more traditional Christian explanation for why God permits evil in this world and offers and alternative explanation. After reviewing several greater-good explanation

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act: Law, Explanation and Analysis provides comprehensive analysis of this sweeping new banking and securities legislation. These historic refor

Where do "good" institutions (those that facilitate efficient and equitable outcomes) come from and why do they evolve the way they do? Explaining Institutional Innovation argues that institutional i

Explaining outcomes of decision-making at the European level has occupied scholars since the late 1950s, yet analysts continue to disagree on the most important factors in the process. In this book, Arne Niemann examines the interplay of the supranational, governmental and non-governmental actors involved in EU integration, along with the influence of domestic, supranational and international structures. The book restates and develops neofunctionalism as an approach for explaining decisions in the European Union and assesses the usefulness of the revised neofunctionalist framework on three case studies: the emergence and development of the PHARE programme, the reform of the Common Commercial Policy, and the communitarisation of visa, asylum and immigration policy. Niemann argues that this classic theory can be modified in such a way as to draw on a wider theoretical repertoire and that many micro-level concepts can sensibly be accommodated within his larger neofunctionalist framework.

The aim of this study is to better understand stable capital growth of German properties and to contribute to the explanation of stable fund returns. In the course of the investigation, evidence is fo

Explaining Research is the first comprehensive communications guidebook for scientists, engineers, and physicians. Drawing on knowledge gleaned from a forty-year career in research communications, Den

An intimate examination of the lives and times of prominent mass communication theorists both past and present, Mass Communication Theories: Explaining Origins, Processes, and Effects explores mass

This book develops a discussion of a selection of scientific realist defenses of inference to the best explanation arguments.

Explaining Local Government uniquely presents a history of local government in Britain since 1800 until the present day. The study explains how local government in Britain has evolved from a structure